Child's Play
by DragonlordRynn
Summary: Alex. Dana. Cross. A Baby. Alex's life sucks.


Child's Play

Alex glared. She stared back.

Alex glared harder. She blinked her big blue eyes.

Alex scowled. She smiled.

Alex growled openly at her. She giggled.

Alex let ripples of biomass run over his body. She reached out and tried to touch him.

Alex recoiled with a hiss.

Dana sighed and decided she had seen enough. She slowly walked up to her brother to swipe her hand over his head. Alex flinched and quickly turned his attention to his sister. He knew that if he didn't she would hit him again. Of course, it wouldn't harm him, but it did hurt her.  
She actually broke a wrist once because he didn't bother acknowledging her.

He never forgave himself for having hurt Dana, intentionally or not.

"You're not getting out of this", Dana told him sternly.

"But Dana", Alex whined.

"No buts", the younger Mercer said. "I'm going to be busy today. You will look after her."

"I could-"

Dana quickly cut him off and changed tactics. "Please?" Her lower lip was quivering and she made those god-awful teary puppy dog eyes. Alex managed to withstand it for whooping three seconds before he gave in. His shoulders slumped and he let out a rather pitiful groaning noise.

Dana grinned. She knew she had won. She patted him on the head and kissed his cheek, then went to hug the other female in the room before handing her over. Alex flinched when he held the small squirming thing in his hands, but didn't dare to drop her.

"Be good", Dana grinned and left the room.

Alex whimpered as he watched her leave, hoping that maybe she'll have mercy on him.

She didn't.

He returned his attention to the small one, who gurgled happily. Her name was Katy and she was six months old.

She was also Dana's daughter.

Katy giggled and tried to grab Alex's hoodie, but didn't reach because her arms were too short. Alex froze for a moment as he checked his memories so he knew what he was going to do now. Apparently, he was supposed to hold her closer. Without any other option, he followed through with it, albeit awkwardly and slow, and his anxiousness flickered up when Katy latched onto the strings of his hoodie and stuffed them into her mouth, cooing happily.

Hugging was a thing family would do, right? And with him being Dana's brother he was also Katy's uncle, as strange as it sounded to his ears.

He had a lot of memories being an uncle. He also knew how to be an aunt, a grandparent, father and even mother. All things that left him, strangely, without any idea what to do if the kid he was holding was actually real and not just a product of his imagination.

Katy was a lot more fragile than Dana, and Alex was afraid to hurt her.

" _Don't be a wuss"_ , Dana had told him when Katy was only a few days old, _"I know you won't break her. Hold her."_

He had done that back then and had helped his sister taking care of the kid since then, but he still felt horrible every time he was supposed to do something with Katy. And he had never spend more than a few minutes with the baby alone.

He still wished Dana would change her mind and let him prepare the guest room and stock up the fridge for when Katy's father and his entourage of friends would come back from their work, instead of giving him babysitting duties.

But there was no way around it now. Dana trusted him and he was going to show her that he could take care of his niece for a few hours.

Alex steeled his resolve. Food first, pack a bag with necessities, then a walk in the park. Katy liked it there and it was warm and secure enough now, nearly three years after the outbreak.

Okay. He could do it.

* * *

He couldn't do it.

Alex swore- internally since Katy wasn't supposed to pick up bad words from him- as he hurled his body across a rooftop.

Four Hunters were in hot pursuit.

It had started out so perfect. Katy had her breakfast and then they went to the Central Park, where Alex had taken the little girl to the playground where some other parents were. It went by not bad- a single mom had even handed him her number- and Alex had believed that, perhaps, he would have chance to kick back and enjoy the day.

But then- of course- life decided it was going too good for him and fucked it up.

It started when a single Hunter sauntered in, looking for an easy snack. Alex wondered why it had come here of all places it could find food, but then remembered that life hated him.

As with all Hunters, it had recognized him immediately and attacked him, knocking him off his feet. Alex had supplexed it into the ground, then casually asked the single mom to keep an eye on his charge before jumping at the Hunter to drag it out of sight.

He had consumed it easily enough and returned to the playground, but once he had picked up Katy and his bag, the other Hunters appeared.

The remaining humans had grabbed their children and had fled by now, leaving Alex with the beasts.

Seeing no other choice, Alex had dashed out of the park at full tilt, ripping open the asphalt beneath as he ran away, the Hunters hot on his heels.

Katy was wailing loud into his ears. Maybe she didn't like being held so tight with Alex's tentacles. But then again, Alex had a personal vendetta against the baby carrier. There was no way he'd ever lug that thing around.

He swore it hated him.

So he had settled for holding the baby with one arm and his tentacles- which was better in his book, though now she was crying into his ears.

And without the carrier, it was also harder to just put Katy somewhere to take care of the Hunters, because she could easily scamper off and get hurt elsewhere while he wasn't looking.

Six-month-old babies weren't supposed to be _that_ mobile.

Alex bit back a curse as slid across the ground and quickly changed his course to rush into another direction while the Hunter hopefully ended up far away from him.

And then he heard it. The roar of more infected.

 _Why do you hate me that much, life?_

Alex instantly dove into an abandoned store. Katy was still crying at the top of her lungs, so hiding her was futile. But he didn't need to hide her. He just had to put her in a safe place and take care of whatever life had thrown at him. And hopefully, they would be home in time for lunch.

Scanning the area, Alex quickly found a large box filled with old blankets and hurriedly placed the baby inside, then dropped the bag next to her.

The Hunters had found him and were now heading towards the store front. Alex snarled and raced towards them, then crashed right through the glass and into the one closest to him.

* * *

Ian MacAlistair and Dave Jackson carefully inched around the back of a building. The HQ said that ZEUS had been seen around here and it was their job to figure out where exactly.

"Sh" MacAlistair suddenly hissed, stopping near the back door. "Hear that?"

Jackson frowned. "Is that...a crying _baby_?"

"It is", MacAlistair commented. The two men nodded at each other, then Jackson went into position and kicked the door down, while MacAlistair kept an eye out for the surrounding. Then both rushed into what seemed to be an old and dusty smelling shop.

They located the infant almost right away. It was inside a large crate and wrapped up in several blankets, and it was crying its head off. Its little fists were clenched tightly and its head had taken a deep shade of red.

"Must've been abandoned" MacAlistair mumbled. "Sodding people. First they want a kid, then they throw it away."

"Yeah. But what are we going to do now?" Jackson asked.

MacAlistair was about to answer when outside suddenly something crashed into the ground with a resounding _bang_. They saw ZEUS tear the ever-loving fuck out of a Hunter, then he jumped at another and slammed it into the ground.

"Shit!" Jackson swore. He grabbed the baby and some blankets, then turned to his companion. "There's now way we had a chance against this thing. Let's get out of here!"

MacAlistair nodded and both hastily pulled back.

* * *

Alex panted when the last infected went down in a bloody heap on the floor. The four Hunters had been quickly joined by several dozen of Walkers, three Hydras and at least one Leader Hunter.

And he wasn't even in a Red Zone. Life must hate him more than he ever believed.

But now he was finished. He dusted off his hands and went back to the store to pick up Katy. He was going to head back to Dana's and continue his job to watch after her there, before life decided to fuck it up for him some more.

He didn't hear her cry, so he figured that maybe she's gotten too tired to wail. However, once he reached the crate, his heart stopped.

Katy was gone.

For several frantic seconds, Alex proceeded with utterly decimating everything inside the store in vague hopes to find her.

But she wasn't there.

Alex inhaled deeply, trying to bring his emotions under control before he let out the loudest and most colorful string of curses as he was able to.

Birds flew up in panic all over the city, car alarms went off and people turned around nervously.

Once Alex got back his breathe, he instantly sniffed the air, hoping to find the baby via her scent. He couldn't fail Dana with something as mundane as losing a baby that _couldn't even walk_ yet. His reputation was on the line, along with her trust and love. He couldn't risk it, so he sniffed more fiercly. Like all mammalian infants, Katy didn't have a very strong own smell, but the baby powder they used was clearly noticeable.

And there was something else. Gun powder, oil, sweat, faint traces of Bloodtox.

Alex's panic was instantly replaced by boiling-hot _rage_.

Blackwatch had Katy.

His eyes narrowed as he automatically grabbed the bag they have left behind before he headed towards the back door.

 _This is it, Life. This is the last straw. I will burn down your fucking house. I will murder your dog, eat your manager and beat you within an inch of your health- After I get Katy back, of course._

* * *

Robert Cross was _not_ a very happy man. Sure, he did get a promotion to Colonel which allowed him more control over Blackwatch, but it also brought a whole lot more headaches with it.

The latest headache alone could measure up to the first week of the Outbreak. Cross slowly reached for the bridge of his nose and pinched the bone there in vague hopes of dispelling the raging pain inside his skull.

"What", he begun very slowly, "Were you thinking?"

Jackson and MacAlistair glanced at each other, and Jackson shifted the wailing bundle in his arms.

"Uhm. We found it in an abandoned store. And ZEUS was outside, fighting Hunters...so we thought it was best to take it with us."

"I understand your decision", Cross growled, "But a _baby_? We aren't a charity organization."

"We couldn't have left it there", MacAlistair explained, "Not with ZEUS around."

"And it could have been infected, for all we knew", Jackson added feebly.

Cross let out a nearly inaudible groan. "You could have brought it to an hospital. You know, they can scan for the virus, too."

"But it has been crying", MacAlistair pointed out, "And we thought that maybe the General knows what to do, since he has kids."

"General Rooks isn't here", Cross sighed.

"Well, as far we know, _you_ have children too", Jackson said, "So, maybe you know how to calm it down." Cross exhaled slowly, knowing fully well that he lost.

A massive shadow fell over Jackson and the infant, who fell silent for a moment before it increased its volume and cried even harder. "Well, it is not infected", Grayson, one of their D-Codes mentioned, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was scaring it.

Cross gave up and moved to the front. "Okay. Everybody, bugger off. You guys are crowding her."

"'Her', Sir?" MacAlistair asked confused.

"It's a girl", the Colonel explained, grabbing the wailing baby from his soldier. The girl hiccuped once and continued to cry, albeit slightly less loud.

He gave her a once-over. She seemed to be fine, though her clothes were a bit dirty and there were more dirt stains on her. He blinked at her furious red face and glanced at Grayson. "What time is it?" He asked.

"Nearly two in the evening", the D-Code replied.

"And there's the reason why she's so upset", Cross pointed out to his confused team. "She's hungry." He paused before his face pulled into a grimace. "Annnnnnd...she needs a new diaper."

Silence fell over the camp like dominoes. The men glanced at each other uncertainly, until MacAlistair stepped to the front. "Uh...Sir? We _don't_ have any diapers."

Cross merely arched an eyebrow. "Then go get some. There are fully-stocked shops in the Green Zones."

He was about to turn around and head into the barracks, when suddenly all Virus Scanners around the compound blared in alarm.

Men whirled around, grabbing their guns, tanks were manned, turrets swung into the direction of the threat.

A single shadow dropped from the sky, cratering the floor with so much force that the entire compound shook and dust obstructed the view. Cross swore softly under his breath as he slowly edged back when ZEUS peeled out of the cloud.

A second later all of them realized that this thing was _pissed_.

More than usually. His eyes flashed red, his teeth were bared, his claws were out and large parts of his body were coated with black spiky armor.

Three or four of his wisemen actually _fainted_ on the spot as soon ZEUS set his eyes one them, but he had no further interest in them.

Then he noticed Cross and his body bristled. Cross froze, eyes wide as the thing let out a furious snarl and started moving towards him. A tank rolled up next to him in an attempt to throw him off course, though he merely flicked his paw out, seized the cannon muzzle and flipped the entire fucking tank on its back like some fucking tortoise.

He was in no mood to play nice, apparently.

 _That's it. I'm fucked. I'm never going to see Sophia again. Mercer, if you kill me, I'm going to haunt you in your fucking sleep._

ZEUS marched towards him like some sort of real-life nightmare, his red eyes boring holes through him with such an intensity that could have melted steel beams.

His wisemen team scrambled to get between them, but a single stare from ZEUS made them wither and shrink back in fear.

Nothing stood between them when ZEUS finally stopped with a heavy stomp.

He pulled his lips away from his teeth and lifted a claw.

"The baby", he ground out.

Cross blinked. _What?!_

"Hand over the baby", ZEUS snarled again, clicking his metal nails together. "Now"

Cross pulled back, bringing his body between the Viral Supermutant and the infant, seconds before his Wisemen team suddenly stood next and around their Colonel, all looking grim and ready to shoot. ZEUS glared back, lips twitching. It didn't look like he wanted to be here either, but he was being stubborn.

But then the baby, who had been sobbing softly until now, picked up her volume once more. And Cross noticed the visible flinch run through ZEUS's body as he turned his entire attention on her.

However, the moment of fleeting panic was quickly replaced by and even stronger rage. "Last warning", ZEUS growled. "Give me the baby and I will not horribly maim all of you."

"We won't!" Jackson snapped, "There's no way we'll be handing over a defenseless infant to a man-eating mutant!"

ZEUS's eyes narrowed. "You would better do what I tell you to", he threatened. "Because I _will_ do unspeakable things to every last of you if I don't get the baby."

He stepped to the front, tentacles unfurling from his shoulders. "A fair word of warning: I have eaten about a dozen people at an Anime Convention once- I _know everything_ about tentacles."

 _THAT_ made the entire compound freeze in pure terror. Cross's skin felt on fire and was freezing at the same time, and he swore his damn heart had set out for a moment there (damn! I'm not even forty yet, too young for a heart attack!). Cold sweat trickled down his back, making him tremble in terror.

 _Oh nonono. Fuck, no! Mercer wasn't really thinking about this...was he?_

Judging from the malicious leer on his face, he clearly was.

Or he knew of the effect his words had on Blackwatch and was just fucking with them on purpose.

The sharp click of his claws drew him back to the terrible, terrible real world. "Now", ZEUS drawled out "If you don't want me to use that knowledge- hand over the baby."

"No" MacAlistair, Jackson and Grayson had stepped between them, glaring at the viral Supermutant. Cross noticed their legs were shaking badly and they were coated in sweat. There wasn't much left and all three of them would be whimpering wrecks on the floor. But now, they tried to hide their terror.

"We won't let you!" MacAlistair snapped.

"Yeah, dude! You probably ate her parents and just came here for a snack! Newsflash: We won't let you eat a poor, defenseless babe!"

Much to their surprise, ZEUS suddenly froze up, eyes instantly stopping glowing eerily red. If anything, he looked extremely confused now.

"Eat her?" He asked, incredulously. Suddenly it seemed to click and he took a step back, visible disgusted. "Do you really think I would- I would never harm her!" The Wisemen frowned deeply, as if they didn't believe a word he said. ZEUS eyed them for a moment, deep in thoughts before he shook his head briefly, and changed his tactic. "Listen- just give her back to me and I'll be out of your hair." He paused. "Please?"

Cross blinked.

The Wisemen Team blinked.

An awkward silence settled on the compound.

ZEUS eyed them with a rather defeated expression.

Someone coughed.

Tumbleweed drifting past wouldn't be out of place at the moment.

Cross blinked again, forcing his brain to get into motion again. He unconsciously shifted the infant in his arm as she continued to whimper and hiccup softly. She was fussing, trying to climb over his shoulder in an attempt to...get to ZEUS? For the first time, he took notice of her eyes. They were of a similar color as Mercer's, and she had dark hair too...

His brain came to a screeching stand-still. Now everything made sense. Terrible, terrible, disturbing sense.

That was the reason he was so aggressive, so downright... _over protective_.

 _It's a Blacklight Baby? Screw that- the little girl is Mercer's_ _spawn?!_

But how?!

Cross couldn't help but wonder just _how_ in the world that was supposed to work. Asides from the whole 'Virus-in-a-human-shell' thing that would rather infect than anything else, he couldn't believe that there would ever be a person stupid (or desperate) enough to bed anything like Mercer. Plus that thing had _super strength_ , so even an attempted _hug_ would most likely end up with him popping off the other's head, then squeeze out their insides like fucking toothpaste. So yeah. Anything more wild than a hand shake (which would probably tear someone's arm off) would render any normal human to a fine-blended paste.

 _Wait. Wait. Grayson said the kid wasn't infected._

Cross frowned. Was there another reason for his behavior?

 _Wasn't there a second Mercer, too?_ Cross thought. _Dana Mercer, wasn't it?_

He felt as if a tank's weight of worth of worry was taken from his back. The baby was seemingly a Mercer, but of the human part of the family. _Thank God._

Okay. He could work with that.

But then he suddenly realized that MacAlistair and Jackson have _kidnapped_ a Mercer baby. They meant well- he could understand their point of view, really- but he wasn't sure as in how far ZEUS did. He didn't like it, apparently, if his previous behavior was anything to go by. But luckily, he was a rational Virus Monster, and he was not willing to maim the men in presence of the infant.

But Cross knew that maybe they shouldn't continue pushing their luck. So he steeled himself, then tapped Grayson on the back. "Grayson. I'm going to do something potentially life-threatening. If anything happens that includes the death of someone on this compound, feel free to shoot the shit out of ZEUS."

"Sir?"

"I will prevent needless bloodshed", Cross told them grimly. Much to the horror of the entire compound, he stepped to the front and held out the baby. "You came here for this, didn't you?"

ZEUS's expression lit up for a moment, before he glared darkly at the Specialist. "Where's the catch?"

"Just get the hell out of here", Cross deadpanned. "And we'll forget this ever happened."

ZEUS eyed him for a moment before he slowly reached for the infant and carefully picked her up. Cross noticed several of his men sharply inhale their breaths when those massive, razor-like claws closed around the baby. But nothing happened and ZEUS cradled the little girl into the crook of his arm, where she instantly latched onto the strings of his hoodie and stuffed them into her mouth, cooing happily. Unlike Blackwatch, the girl also didn't seem to mind the giant black spikes and pulsing red veins that ran along the Supermutant's talon.

Not that Blackwatch was in any situation to form a coherent thought anyways. Cross didn't notice one of his men who didn't look like their brains just blue screened.

But then again, maybe he had gone crazy and was imagining all this while sitting in a nice rubber cell.

Though seriously? ZEUS holding a human infant and he was _not_ thinking it to be a snack? ZEUS _not_ going berserk inside a Blackwatch Base?

Was he hallucinating, or has God decided that today would be a great time to do random shit?

Meanwhile, Mercer was in the process of giving the infant a once-over, and his face was furrowed into a deep frown. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, then turned his attention on the Blackwatch Soldiers, who still stared at him with slack jaws.

And suddenly the thing moved. In one bound, he leapt right across the troops. The ground shattered as he landed, and broke some more as he pushed himself to the front.

Like a missile, he broke right into the compound's main barrack, leaving behind only a shattered door and terrified personnel.

Cross groaned in defeat.

"Men!" He barked after a moment of pulling himself together again. "ZEUS has just marched right into the headquarters!"

His men jumped, staring right at their Leader. "Sir?"

"While you were busy staring in space, ZEUS just infiltrated the compounds", Cross sighed.

"And..." Jackson began, looking around nervously, "The baby?"

"He's taken her with him." Cross sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's...let's just make sure he doesn't compromise the place any more than he already did."

He set into motion, heading towards the broken door that hung awkwardly in the framework.

As he passed upturned carts and people who had flung themselves into corners, he promised that once this was all over, he was going to take a long and nice vacation.

* * *

Cross found Mercer easily enough.

He simply followed the trail of destruction and shocked personnel until he stood in front of what passed for the canteen kitchen.

The chef and his two helpers stood in front of an askew-hanging door, looking pale and terrified.

"He's in there", the chef told Cross with a shaking voice, without even waiting for his question. The Specialist only nodded in response and carefully pushed his way through.

Inside, he found Mercer standing in front of the filled sink, staring at the water. He held the squirming baby girl in his (human) hands and was apparently unwilling to put her inside.

Cross sighed and sheathed his stun baton, then stepped up to him. Mercer didn't bother acknowledging him as he continued to glare at the bubble-covered water. "You're always giving me trouble, you know that?" He muttered under his breath. "Waking Dana up at night, driving me up a wall for your birth, attracting Hunters if I try to take you for a walk...and now _water_."

The baby squirmed.

Inwardly, the Specialist was surprised Mercer managed to prepare the baby that fast for a bath, including removing her clothes and soiled diapers, though outwardly he didn't show anything on his face.

"Need help?" He asked, "Or do you want to hold her till she freezes?" Mercer threw a glare at him before baring his teeth in a growl. "I don't like water", he bit out.

Cross snorted in amusement. He should let him suffer some more, but that would go on the baby's health. He might have been a heartless bastard, but that was where he drew a line. So he pulled off his gloves and protective gauntlets and rolled up his sleeves. "Then let me do that."

Mercer didn't trust him, but in the end, his fear of water won over him and he handed the baby over. The little girl wriggled a bit before she settled down, and Cross proceeded with placing her in the warm bubble bath.

ZEUS seemed delighted, and started to rummage through the bag he brought until he found a clean outfit.

"Is there any reason you're wanting to bathe her?" Cross asked.

"She was grimy", Mercer replied.

"And?"

"If I had brought her back to Dana, she would have wanted to know why she was dirty. And I can't lie to Dana. I would have told her." The Viral Supermutant paused and Cross noticed tendrils run over his back. "And then Dana will realize that I didn't manage to take care of her baby and will _flay_ me alive."

"Mhm" Cross carefully rubbed some shampoo into the baby's hair. "And her father?"

Mercer made a face. "He would have probably stabbed me in my sleep." He shuddered again. "He's a nice enough guy, you know? We sometimes work together killing assholes, or just see who can climb a building fastest. But he's also a professional _Assassin_. If someone finds a way to _murder_ me with a knife, it'll be him. I am _not_ tempting that." He snorted. "Not that I am the greatest guy in his book anyways- after all I _did_ try to castrate him once I learnt of Dana's pregnancy."

"I see." Cross eyed the infant who stared at him with her big blue eyes. "She's probably hungry."

"I know", Mercer sighed. He held up a bottle of food. "I'll go and warm this up."

"...You are surprisingly well prepared", Cross noted.

"What is there to say? I'm good at everything I do."

"Except for making your life not suck so hard." The Specialist saw the look he was receiving and merely arched an eyebrow. "Mercer, your life sucks so hard, it could star in a hardcore porn movie."

Mercer only lifted the middle finger.

* * *

Cross had learnt some valuable things. First: As long children were present, ZEUS was quite docile. Second: The baby's name was Katy. Third: Katy didn't like eating alone. Fourth: ZEUS actually likes colorful children's cereal.

So they now sat there, in the canteen. Cross was sipping his coffee (which he improved with a strong shot of whiskey from the General's personal stash). Most of his Wisemen were placed at the tables around them, glancing at their Leader as they ate in silence. Mercer was sitting opposite of Cross, with one leg folded over the other and Katy on his lap. He was chowing down on a bowl of fruit loops, while simultaneously feeding the baby.

Cross couldn't help but feel amazed how effective the Blacklight entity worked. He set down his coffee and cleared his throat.

"Say, I couldn't help but notice how downright devout you're doing this job", he started. Mercer lifted his head and glanced at him, so Cross continued: "It's not as if the child was _yours_ , so I am still attempting to figure out why you try so hard."

"Because she's Dana's daughter", Mercer replied. He was missing the usual bite in his voice, Cross noticed. "And Dana had to put up with a lot of shit because of me, so all I can do is make her life a bit easier." He paused for a moment before his voice lowered a few octaves. "Katy also doesn't try to eat me, so I find this is a big plus."

Cross frowned and lifted his mug again. "There is another Mercer spawn who tried to _eat_ you?"

ZEUS shrugged. "The Supreme Hunter", he said bluntly.

Cross choked on his coffee, spitting it out as he violently coughed out whatever managed to get into his lungs. "What?!" He managed to croak out.

The Viral Superweapon shrugged again. "He was made from my genetic code and Greene's, so as far as reproduction goes, this is a pretty solid thing."

Cross coughed again. "The fucker that tried to murder us on the _Reagan_?"

"Yup"

"Who tried to eat you and set off the bomb?"

"Exactly"

"Who you killed in turn- by _decapitating_ him?"

"Yeah"

"...Who you have _eaten_ afterwards?"

"...Yes?"

Cross wiped the corner of his mouth. "Father of the Year then."

ZEUS frowned at the Specialist, as if he didn't understand the tone he was using. Cross figured that perhaps they should figure out how to weaponize sarcasm. At least it wasn't a thing Mercer would ever figure out how to beat.

Katy began fussing, signaling that she was satisfied and no longer hungry. In that very moment, a shadow fell over the three. Grayson, the D-Code, stood now besides Mercer, who let out a low snarl and proceeded with growing spikes and claws to shield the baby.

Grayson fidgeted with his fingers for a moment before he turned to Mercer.

"Uhm...Mister ZEUS?" He asked. "The guys would like to...uh- spend some more time with the baby?"

Mercer stared confused at the Super Soldier, then turned his attention towards the Wisemen in the background. They immediately shrunk back in fear, though Mercer didn't seem to decide to shred them for this insolence.

Cross could see the gears starting to move in his head.

"I guess", the Supermutant began slowly, glancing at the clock on the wall. "If you guys don't shoot me and don't drop her in the mud...I guess I could give you two hours?"

The fifth thing Cross learned at that day was that D-Codes can actually produce high-pitched squeaks of happiness. At that moment, he decided he had enough of this day and walked right out of the lunch room and headed for his barracks. He was going to bed and he was going to forget that this entire day happened.

* * *

It was early evening when Alex stepped through the door to his sister's apartment. Katy was tired and already nearly sleeping.

"Busy day?" Alex's brother-in-law asked with a wide grin on his face.

"You could say that", the Virus replied, pushing past the other man. "We had so much _fun_ , we missed nap time."

"But you did a good job", the man threw in, picking his daughter up. "I think Dana would appreciate it if you could do it again-?"

Alex didn't even let him finish. In the very moment he had realized what the guy was going to say, he had bolted from the apartment and escaped through the hallway window. He was already halfway down the block when Dana walked in on her partner with a frown. "Des, wasn't Alex around here just now?"

"He was", the other said. "Uh. He kinda bolted when I asked him to babysit more often."

Dana sighed. "And here I always thought he would love to spend more time with Katy." She harrumphed. "Men!"

* * *

 **Author:...I have no idea what I just did. But I thought it was fun.**


End file.
